Ester 3:11

3:11 The king replied to Haman, “Keep your money, ¹  and do with those people whatever you wish.” ² 

Ester 3:9

3:9 If the king is so inclined, ³  let an edict be issued ⁴  to destroy them. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver ⁵  to be conveyed to the king’s treasuries for the officials who carry out this business.”

Ester 8:2

8:2 The king then removed his signet ring (the very one he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther designated Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s estate.

Ester 6:9

6:9 Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king’s noble officials. Let him ⁶  then clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him lead him about through the plaza of the city on the horse, calling ⁷  before him, ‘So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!’”

Ester 4:7

4:7 Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed.

Ester 3:10

3:10 So the king removed his signet ring ⁸  from his hand and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, who was hostile toward the Jews.

Ester 4:8

4:8 He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated ⁹  in Susa for their destruction so that he could show it to Esther and talk to her about it. He also gave instructions that she should go to the king to implore him and petition him on behalf of her people.

Ester 3:13

3:13 Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that ¹⁰  they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, ¹¹  on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day ¹²  of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

Ester 4:17

4:17 So Mordecai set out to do everything that Esther had instructed him.

Ester 8:12

8:12 This was to take place on a certain day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus – namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar).

[3:11]  ¹ tn Heb “the silver is given to you”; NRSV “the money is given to you”; CEV “You can keep their money.” C. A. Moore (Esther [AB], 40) understands these words somewhat differently, taking them to imply acceptance of the money on Xerxes’ part. He translates, “Well, it’s your money.”

[3:11]  ² tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes”; NASB “do with them as you please.”

[3:9]  ³ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.”

[3:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “let it be written” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “let it be decreed.”

[3:9]  ⁵ sn The enormity of the monetary sum referred to here can be grasped by comparing this amount (10,000 talents of silver) to the annual income of the empire, which according to Herodotus (Histories 3.95) was 14,500 Euboic talents. In other words Haman is offering the king a bribe equal to two-thirds of the royal income. Doubtless this huge sum of money was to come (in large measure) from the anticipated confiscation of Jewish property and assets once the Jews had been destroyed. That such a large sum of money is mentioned may indicate something of the economic standing of the Jewish population in the empire of King Ahasuerus.

[6:9]  ⁶ tc The present translation reads with the LXX וְהִלְבִּישׁוֹ (vÿhilbisho, “and he will clothe him”) rather than the reading of the MT וְהִלְבִּישׁוּ (vÿhilbishu, “and they will clothe”). The reading of the LXX is also followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV, and NLT. Likewise, the later verbs in this verse (“cause him to ride” and “call”) are better taken as singulars rather than plurals.

[6:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “and let them call” (see the previous note).

[3:10]  ⁸ sn Possessing the king’s signet ring would enable Haman to act with full royal authority. The king’s ring would be used to impress the royal seal on edicts, making them as binding as if the king himself had enacted them.

[4:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “given” (so KJV); NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “issued”; NIV “published”; NAB “promulgated.”

[3:13]  ¹⁰ tn The words “stating that” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “children and women.” The translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

[3:13]  ¹² tc The LXX does not include the words “on the thirteenth day.”